Airship.



E. H. MATTSON.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION TILED JAN.7,1910.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Wzfnmsea ERNST H. MATTSON', OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AIRSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed January 7, 1910. Serial No. 536,863.

To aZZw/zom it may concern .Be it known that I, ERNST H. Ma'r'rsou, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin riirships, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to aerial navigation, and its object is tdprovidecertain improve-- ments in the heavicr-than-air type.

With this end in view the invention consists in the novel constructionand improvements in details. all as hereinafter described, illustratedin the drawing and incorporated in the appended claims.

In the dra\ving-Figure l is a side eleration partly in section andpartly broken away 'of a craft embodying my invention.

' Fig. 2 is a front end view. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, and Fig. 4a detail view.

In the several views, 2 represents the body of the ship. This body is inthe form of a tube open at both ends in the lower part of which is anair-tube 3 extending from end to end of the body 2. In the forward endof the air-tube 3 is mounted a propeller 4: driven by a shaft 5 mountedon suitable bearings within said air-tube. This propeller is driven byan engine 6 suspended on a frame '7 from the lower side of the body 2.The driving connectionbetween the engine and the propeller shaft 5consists of a sprocket chain 8 or belt engaging an engine-pulley orsprocket wheel 9 and a similar wheel or pulley 10 loosely mounted on theshaft 5. Motion is communicated from the pulley 10 to the shaft 5through a clutch 11 splined on said shaft 5 and en'- gaged or disengagedfrom said pulley 10 by means of a lever 12 which is pivoted at 13 andoperated by a rod 14 having a handgrip 13 within convenient reach of thedrivers seat 14.

The object of the tube 3 is to confine the current of air produced bythe propeller in the form or a compressed column of air which shallissue with more propelling force from the rear end of the tube 3 than ifthe current produced bythe propeller 4 were unconfined. This pressure inthe tube 3 is augmented by pressures from a pair of tubes 15 and 16which are forwardly inclined and open at their upper and lower ends to,respectively, the outer air and the tube 3. In the upper ends of theseinclined tubes are propellers 17 and 18 that are suitsupport the rearend of the body vertical steering of the ship is accomplished 105 ablymounted onshafts 19 and 20 having bevel-gears 21 and 22 on their Lowerends. These gears are in mesh with bevel-gears 23 and 24 that arerotatively mounted against longitudinal movement on the shaft 5. Rotarymotion is communicated to the gears 23 and 24, and thus to thepropellers l7 and 18, by means of clutches 25 and 26 which are splinedto the shaft 5 and, like the clutch 11, are longitudinally movable onthe shaft 5 so that they may be engaged with and disengaged fromsuitable complemental clutch portions on the gears 23 and 24. Theclutches 25 and 26 aresimultaneously operable through a pair of levers27 and 28 which are pivoted at their lower ends to the bottom of thetube 3 and connected to movetogether by a connecting rod 29-, the endsof which are pivoted to the respective levers 27 and 28. The lever 27,and therewith the lever 28, through the connecting rod 29, is, operatedby an operators handlever 30 connected with said lever 27 through aconnecting rod 31.

The propellers 17 and 18 with the air-of their air-compression tubesexert a lifting force and at the same time, owing to their inclination,a forward pulling force. The currents of air produced by the liftingforces being delivered into the tube 3 approximately in the direction ofthe current produced by the propeller 3, will augment the pushing forceof the current in the tube 3. At the rear end of the latter tube ismounted a rudder 32 which is operated to control the sidewise steeringbymeans of a rope 34: passing over a pulley 35 secured to a shaft 36provided at its upper-end and in front of the drivers. seat, with asteering wheel 37 On the lower end of the shaft 36' is mounted a groundwheel 38 which supports the forward end of the body 2 when to steer theship in its movement over the starting or stopping field as well asafter the ship has risen into the air. Wheels 39 he by a plane 40mounted on a shaft all having its end bearings in a frame-work 42secured to the forward end of the ship. The plane 40 is swung by meansof cords or flexible connections 43 and 44 passing over pulleys .45 and46 to a lever 47 centrally pivoted in front of the drivers seat. Theframe-work 42 may be duplicated at suitable distances apart, as at 4:8to lend rigidit ,to the different parts of the body 2 an to properlysustain the tube 3. therein together with other details of the mechanismin any suitable manner. To the opposite edges of the roof 49 of the body2 are pivoted wings 50 and 51 which extend along both sides of the body2 and normally occupy a folded position as that shown occupied by thewing 51. T hose wings are connected to the body 2 by means of a seriesof ropes 52 wound upon shafts 53, such as shown partly in Fig. 5...

Each rope is normally coiled upon a' pulley 54 on each shaft so as tohold both wings in their folded position, as indicated at 51 in Fig. 3and the shaft 53, upon which the pul' ley 54 is keyed, may be yieldinglyheld against movement that will uncoil the rope by means of spiralsprings 55 secured to the body 2 and shaft, respectively. By thusyieldingly" holding the wings folded the wings willautomatically spreadoutto or toward the position occupied by .the wing 50 in Fig. 3 in caseof a sudden dropping movement of the vessel and act as parachutes, andbe automatically returned to their folded position the moment a rapiddownward movement is checked. Should the vessel suddenly tilt at oneside,thus momentarily producing a drop movement substantially at onlyone side the wing on that side will act to right the vesselautomatically. \Vhen the Wings are folded there will be airspacesbetween the wings and the body 2, as at 56 in Fig. 3.

Propellers ,57 and 58 mounted onshafts 59 and 60, respectively, aremounted at the outer sides of the body 2 and the rearward currents ofair produced by these propellers will partly operate to reduce pressureagainst the upwardly inc ined sides of the wings, these beingheld by thesprings 55 to resist opening or spreading movements under suchpressures. Power from the shaft 5 is transmitted to the shafts of theropellers 59 and 60 through belts 61 an 62 passing over a pair of loosepulleys 63 and- 64 on the shaft '5. These pulleys are substantially onepulley andare provided with a clutch member to be engaged by a clutchmember 65 splined to the s aft 5 and operated by a lever 66 in thesamemanner as the other clutches above referred LO.

I claim as my invention and desire to se- 2. The combination with thebody of the craft, of horizontal and inclined air passages.communicating with each other and having a common outlet at the rear endof i said horizontal air passage, propellers arranged to create currentsof 2111' through said passages and exertlifting and forwardly propellingforces, hinged sides adapted to serve as Wings for said craft, saidsides or wings being normally folded and providing a space between eachside or wing and the body of the craft, pro llers arranged to createcurrents of an t rough said spaces,

means supporting said wings in their normally folded positionand'permitting. said wings to become outstretchedunder unusual airpressures, a driving engine, and clutch mechanisms whereby each systemof prollers ma be separately or all together set m motion y said engine.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

ERNST I H. MATTE-ON.

